(AFP) Elderly Muslim men who marry young virgins but are unable to satisfy their brides' sexual demands were accused of "torture" by a leading opposition leader today.

Nik Aziz Nik Mat, spiritual leader of PAS, said that aged men who wanted young brides as "trophy wives" were satisfied with confining them at home and not consummating the marriage.

"This (is) tantamount to torturing the wives who are helpless and prohibited to turn to other men to seek matrimonial pleasures," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency during a weekly religious lecture.